Paper-bag holder.



H. L. SNYDER.

PAPER BAG HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED 001217, 1911.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

PI vy HARRY 1.. sienna,- or nnnvnn, oononnno.

rerun-Baa HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

Application filed October 17, 1911. Serial No. 655,193.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY L. SNYDER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Bag Holders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in paper bag holders in which either a single unit may be employed or a series of units superposed one above or adjacent the other, the said units being preferably arranged in sets of various sizes, the said sizes being arranged on a standard, one above the other, the largest being lowermost and the other units diminishing in size toward the top, thus making it practicable to place upon a single device, bags of practically all sizes, from the largest to the smallest, and thus making them conveniently accessible 'in grocery and other stores, the said bags in connection with each unit being yieldingly retained in place, but readily removable therefrom, as circumstances may require.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, it will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvedconstruction, show in a series of bag holders mounted on a suitable standard, the foot plate being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a front view of the construction, each unit being equipped with a pair of retaining springs, each spring being-adapted to hold a package of bags, the foot plate being also shown in section. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the shelves illustrating the peculiar formation of its upper extremity. Fig. 4 is a section, taken through the standard on the line l-4= of Fig. 1, shown on a larger scale.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

' Let the numeral 5 designate a bar, which is preferably suspended 1n an upright position, but which may, if desired, be sup in referring to the construction, it will be assumed that the bar 5 is supported in 'an upright position, though it must be under.- stood that the construction need not necessarily be maintained in such position in order to properly support the bags thereon, This standard 5 is secured at its lower extremity, which is equipped with a flange 6, to a footplate 7, W-hlCh, as illustrated in the drawing, is considerably wider than the standard and forms a platform upon which may be supported an additional package of bags of even larger size than is illustrated. This attachment is made by means of screws 8, which, as illustrated in the drawing, are inserted frombelow, nuts 9 being applied to their upper extremit-ies.- This construction makes the standard and foot plate,

readily detachable for purposes of'transpordevice may be disconnected, making the construction knock-down in form for conven'ience of transportation. The various units, however, may, if desired, be permanently secured to the standard.

Each bag holding'unit consists of a sort of inclined shelf 10, whose upper edge is bent upwardly to form a lip 12, the said lip being secured to the bar 5 by means of a suitable fastenin device, as a screw 13, to which a nut L4 is applied on the inside. To the upper edge of each shelf is secured two leaf-springs 15, each spring being secured by means of a screw 16, which is passed through the upperedge of the shelf just below the lip 12, the screw being fastened by a nut 17.

Each spring 15 is bowed upwardly above the shelf and then curved downwardly,

terminating at its lower extremity in apart 18, which is normally-held in engagement with the shelf, but,when a package 19 of bags is inserted, engages the uppermost bag in front with sufficient tension to yieldingly maintain the package of bags in place. This spring engages the bags about midway of the1r=length. Each shelf 10 is provided with a bend 20, midway of its length, whereby a-part 21 is carried forwardly, giving where the spring engages them.

, At, its lower extremity, the shelf is inclined upwardly, forming an angle with the body part 23 of the shelf, which, as illustrated in .the drawing, is slightly less than .the bags a forward bend at 22, just below-J.

25, to occupy parallel with the part 23 of the shelf. The

a right angle. This bend 24 extends upwardly and forwardly from the foot plate 7 a suitable distance to give the shelf a suitable bag-holding capacity, its upper forward edge being bent upwardly, as shown at a position approximately part 24 prevents the bags from sliding from the shelf, while the part 25 engages their lower extremities in front and coiiperates with the spring 18 in fastening the bags insuitable position. v

The lowermost shelf is secured at the angle 26 or at its lowermost point to the foot plate by means of suitable fastening devices, as screws 27. Each shelf is'preferably formed of suificient width to hold a number of packages of bags, the two pack ages preferably varying .in size. It is thoroughly practicable to support two sizes of bags upon the same shelf, assuming that there is no great discrepancy between such sizes. For instance, as illustrated in the drawing,see Fig. 2,the lowermost shelf is adapted to support two sizes, respectively numbered 8 and 12; the shelf next above, two sizes 5 and 6; and so on, thesucceeding shelves in an upwardly direction holding ,2

'. ranged brace 28, whose rear extremity is bent downwardly to form' a lip 29, which is located between the upwardly bent lip 12 of the shelf 10 and the bar or standard 5, the

fastening device 13 being passed through the two lips 12 and 29, thus securing the top of one unit to the standard and the brace 28 of the unit next above. The forward extremity of each brace 28- is secured to the p shelf with the,foot plate, from coming in rear surface of the shelf in any suitable manner, as shown at'v 30. As illustrated 1n the drawing, this connection is made by means of rivets, though it maybe formed in any other suitable-manner.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that any bag-holding unit may be detached from the bar 5 and secured by means of its brace 28 to any othersuitable support. Hence; the bag holder may'consist of one or more units, as may be desired, "as will be readily understood. However,-1t

will ordinarily .be preferable to assemble'a number of units upon asuitable support, as

.illustrated, the units being superposed one above another and properly spaced to give each unit the desiredcapacity and make room for its retaining spring, which is bowed upwardly and forwardly, as heretofore explained.

Assuming that the bag holding units are mounted upon a suitable support, as illustrated in the drawing, the Various shelves arepreferably inclined at an angle of about 45 to the support or standard 5. When the bags are in place upon the shelves of the various units, the lower extremity of the topmost bag, or one edge 31 of the folded bottom of the bag, projects slightly outwardly whereby it is conveniently accessible for the user, who, by grasping this protruding ed e between the thumb and finger, can quickly remove the bag from the holder, and this operation may be successively performed until all the bags have been removed from a given unit. I

Where the bags are mounted or assembled in series arranged one above another, as illustrated in the drawing, the device may be suspended from a nail, hook or other suitable device, the same being attached to wall or other stationary object. It is preferred, however, to set the device upon a floor or counter, the foot plate being of sufficient area to glve it a stable support.

This stability of the device is further enhanced by the fact that the lowermost 'shelf is largest, while the other shelves diminish in size toward the top of the standard. By virtue of this arrangement, the bag holder, when loaded or filled with bags, has the greatest weight upon the lowermost shelf, the weight on the succeeding shelves above gradually diminishing.

In order to make it practicable to rest the device upon a floor or counter, and also to give the foot plate additional strength, the edges of the plate are bent inwardly against the lower surface of the plate, as shown at 32, constituting a bearing surface for the foot plate, thus lifting the body of the latter sufficiently to prevent the heads of the screws or other fastening devices employed in connecting the standard with the foot late and also for connecting the lower to' the upper edges of the Attention is called to the fact that the bar I 5 has edges strengthened or reinforced by turning. the metal, inwardly against the tendency. By virtue of this expedient, it

becomes practicable to make the bar 5 from relatively thin sheet metal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A bag-holder consisting, in combination with a suitable support, of ashelf mounted thereon in an inclmed position and equipped with a spring secured to the upper part of the shelf and extending downwardly in front of the latter, the spring being adapted to engage bags when in place on the shelf, the lower rtion of the shelf having a part bent to 01m an angle with the body of the shelf to maintain the bags thereon, the said part being also bent upwardly to engage the lower extremities of the bags in front, substantially as described.

2. In a bag-holder, the combination with a suitable support, of a shelf mounted thereon to occupy an inclined position, the lower extremity of the shelf havin a part extending outwardly and forwar y therefrom to engage the lower extremities of the folded bags, the said part being bent upwardly to engage the bottoms of the bags in front, the said shelf being equipped with a spring extending forwardly and downwardly from the top of the shelf and adapted to engage the bags in front, the shelf being bent forwardly to cause the bags below the point of enga ement of the spring to curve outwardly to facilitate their removal, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY L. SNYDER.

Witnesses:

F. E. BowEN, A. EBERT OBnmul 

